A Curse In Disguise
by aladythatwrites
Summary: Life was supposed to be easier once Magic returned to Storybrooke, but Snow finds it difficult to adjust to combining her new and old lives. Will she be able to find herself in time to fix her family? And what trouble will stir up now that the Evil Witch has lost again? Mostly Snow/Charming. Rating could change for future chapters!
1. one

**A/N: Hah, I have no idea where I'm going with this. I've just spent all summer feeling tortured due to a lack of OUAT and thus was born this story! It could be a huge success or a complete failure, I'm not really sure but I hope it's not awful. I would really appreciate your input, guys!**

**By the waaaay, I in no way own or claim to own OUAT or any of these characters.**

**Hope ya'll enjoy!**

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She frowns as she glances at her reflection in the mirror. All was the same. She had the same blue eyes, the same red lips, the same skin white as snow, but she didn't feel like she was Snow White anymore. Her hair was shorter, too short for her liking although it'd grown to her shoulders since the curse had broken a few weeks prior to this day, but it wasn't long and curled like she remembered it being. Instead of wearing her gowns, so extravagant and beautiful, she wore denim jeans and a blouse- something that she was so used to wearing yet so uncomfortable in somehow. Instead of being surrounded in diamonds and flowers like she'd been used to in the castle, she wore very little perfume and the ring that Charming had given her. Everything was different, yet it was completely the same and she had no idea who she was anymore- who was she meant to be?

Snow glances down at the ring on her finger and reflects on the past few weeks of her life.

Emma had completely disappeared, not even giving Charming and herself the chance to explain, to truly get to know her. Their relationship would be complicated at the very least- a child wasn't supposed to have parents who were the same age as them- and honestly, Snow didn't know what to make of it. As awful as it sounded, maybe it was best that Emma took Henry away for a while. Storybrooke wasn't safe anymore. The Queen was planning something, Snow can feel it in the pit of her stomach, and this town was too small for so many strong people. The heroes, like her dear Charming, could live in peace, but there was evil roaming amongst them. There lived people who wanted nothing but revenge, nothing but to bring pain to others, and she loved her family too much to wish that they were around for it.

And then there was the fact that she felt physically childless. Her heart ached for the baby that she was expecting, for tiny fingers and big fluttering blue eyes. She wanted to witness a child's first steps and words, she wanted to wake up in the middle of the night to tend to her and nurse her through her very first fever. She wanted to teach her how to ride a horse and how to beat up boys who tugged at her long locks of hair. Snow was looking forward to being that person for her daughter, but Emma didn't need her. She was a grown woman, a grown woman who'd saved an entire land of people that were stuck in limbo, and she didn't need a mother anymore.

Aside from that, Emma probably hated her. Snow thinks she's got every right to. They abandoned her, threw this huge hardship at her as an infant. Emma was never able to have the magical childhood that she deserved. And her childhood really made her the woman that she was today, strong and beautiful, but so stubborn and reserved. It took forever for Snow to truly feel like she was important to her, and now that she knew what Emma was to her, she's lost her. She's lost all of it.

It truly felt as though the curse never would end. Snow would eternally live in pain and grief- her daughter survived, but there was this whole part of her life that she'd missed, there were things that she'd never get back.

"I haven't quite decided what to call you yet."

Snow looks up and smiles as she sees the reflection of her beloved through the mirror. She turns to him and tilts her head to the side, crossing her arms over her chest as she waits for his words. He always seemed to bring her amusement these days. Charming was her ray of light in all of this darkness.

"We are in Storybrooke, and here you are known as Mary Margret. Mary Margret the school teacher who has an endearing haircut, like a sweet little fairy, and the patience of a thousand fairy godmothers," he steps closer to her, taking her hand and kissing it kindly before continuing. "But the spell has been broken. Magic has returned to our lives and I can clearly remember you as my princess, my Snow," his hand finds its way around her waist, pulling her into a gentle embrace against his chest. "My snow, who has absolutely no patience at all," Snow chuckles and smacks him on the chest causing him to laugh "Who will fight selflessly for everything and everyone who is in need. My snow, who is brave and passionate, and can light up my entire universe with that smile- that's the one." Charming brushes the back of his hand along her cheek lovingly before raising an eyebrow. "You don't smile as much as I'd like you to… We've found each other, aren't you happy?"

Snow sighs dreamily at her husband. She missed how charming he actually was, how he was able to make her smile even when it felt as though the world was going to come crashing down on her. "I am happy, so happy." She touches his cheek in return, a loving smile on her face "But I'm afraid I can't answer your question. I don't know who I am anymore, Charming. At least I had the wits to give you a nickname before this entire thing happened, it's like you don't care at all for me." She pokes her tongue out at him, causing Charming to laugh.

"Well I am sorry, I promise to figure something out. But for now…" He turns her back towards the mirror, resting his chin on top of her shoulder as he stares at their reflection. "Look closely at yourself. Who do you want to be?" He asks.

And that was the question she struggled with the most. It wasn't a matter of discovering herself- she knew that she was both women. She was Mary Margret, the loving school teacher, and she was Snow White, the passionate princess. But who did she want to be now? A sad sigh escapes her lips as she leans back against her husband's chest. "I want to be yours." She begins to sway gently, moving both their bodies side to side as she watched them "I want to be Mrs. Charming, and I want to be Mrs. David Noaln."

He smiles and presses a kiss to her temple, shaking his head. "That's sweet, but I'm talking about you. You've got to figure things out so we can begin to move on, to continue our lives and pick up all of the broken pieces."

She looks down at the ring on her finger and frowns. She knows she should have this figured out by now, and she can feel her heart tugging her in one direction in specific, but she's not sure if she could just give up her life. Twenty-eight years is a long time, it's a lifetime for some people even, and to choose was too much. But she knew what was right, what it was that her heart desired. She opens her lips to speak, about to explain everything to him before she hears a child speaking animatedly from outside the bedroom door.

Frowning, Snow moves from her husband's arms and eagerly walks out of the room, grinning when she finds Henry standing in the middle of the kitchen, biting on an apple. "Have you not learned your lesson yet?" She raises a perfect eyebrow and laughs when the little boy jumps out of his seat and runs into her arms, screaming her name.

"Ms. Blanchard!" He grins as she picks him up in her arms and hugs him close for a moment. "Or is it grandma now? Can I call you grandma?"

Snow laughs and shakes her head, pulling away from him for a moment. "No, please don't call me grandma." She laughs again and combs her fingers through the young man's hair, as if making sure he's real. "What about Snow?" She winks at him, a warm smile on her face as he hugs her again. "Henry, sweetheart, where is…i-is she…did she happen to, um..."

He shakes his head, frowning a little "She sent me in to grab some of her things. She said you could pack them for her and that she'll see you when she's ready to." His frown deepens when he sees how upset Snow looks about the entire situation and he shrugs. "She needs to come around sometime. Operation Cobra is still a go. Magic is back, but so is the bad magic. We have to do something abo-"

"No way! Henry, sweetheart, look at me," Snow looks at him seriously, a frown on her face as she speaks "Please, please, stay out of this. I know you did a wonderful job helping us get our memories back, but we almost lost you forever then. And now there's actually magic involved, it's dangerous. Please, please promise me you'll stay out of it." She begs him and the little boy simply nods. "Good. Thank you."

As if like clockwork, Charming walks in with a grin on his face as Henry runs to him. The older man picks up Henry in his arms and laughs as he begins to speak animatedly about his trip with Emma. Charming glances at Snow and nods for her to go do what she needs to do while he keeps Henry entertained. Snow smiles and walks over to Emma's old room, beginning to prepare the things for her. She comes across the blanket that they'd left her in as a child and bites her lower lip sadly, holding it close to her chest for a moment as she remembers the baby that she hardly ever got to have.

Emma might not need her, but Snow was determined to be a part in her life anyways. She was going to make up for all of the lost time and she was going to fix this family somehow. Magic was among them and no one was able to predict the future. Snow needed to make things right, and soon.

**Reviews, rates, any alerts are appreciated! Chapter two will be up sometime soon!**


	2. two

**A/N: So I'm really liking the reactions to this story a lot! I've had quite a few people follow it and favorite it and it's really just helped my muse for this second chapter. What I hope to do is get a little more into Charming's personality because I personally never see enough of that in the ff's I've read, and I'm hoping you all just keep enjoying!** **By no means do I own OUAT, the characters, or anything except my own imagination. Hope y'all enjoy!**

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**Emma's POV-**

It's not like she wanted to hide for the rest of her life. None of this was forever, it really wasn't. She just needed to collect herself- to gather her thoughts and figure out whether or not she wants a part in this messed up life. Her parents were her age. Her parents were two people that she's come to know and love as friends, two people that she trusted as companions. How was she supposed to just accept that?

And then there was the entire thing about her being a princess.

Most children grow up listening to these fairytales; the one about Cinderella losing her glass slipper, about Pinocchio's nose growing every time he told a lie, about snow white…ugh, she can't even begin to think about that one. The point was that most children knew this, they wanted to live these fantasies- the girls craved to be the princesses, the damsels in distress, and the boys were constantly fighting to be the hero that gets the girl- but never Emma. See, Emma was the kid who rolled her eyes at that kind of junk. Fairytales weren't supposed to be real, they were just silly stories told to children to keep them entertained and help them learn lessons. Tales. They were just meant to be tales and to be quite frank, Emma never cared for them. She was too busy going from foster home to foster home, being tossed around like she was some kind of object, to care about stupid fantasies. A few weeks ago she slayed a fire breathing dragon and she still doesn't believe it, it just doesn't make any sense to her.

So the first chance she got, she picked up her kid and ran away. And she knows it's her thing, it's her bad habit to just turn from her problems and pretend they don't exist- she did it with Henry when she had him, she did it with just about every relationship she's ever been in, and she's doing it now with Storybrooke. But this was a little more complicated than that. Maybe Disneyland wasn't the best place to take a kid who grew up in a town where real fairytale characters lived. Henry spent half the time overdosing on candy and confronting the actors about how the real characters should act. Emma usually just stood behind and pretended not to know him until the day that they ran into Snow White who wanted to sing for them- that was where she drew the line. She pointed out every little thing that was wrong with her, from the fact that she in no way represented a strong, brave woman like Snow White really should, to the fact that singing to animals was not going to solve anyones problems. And as the poor girl cried and ran away from them, Emma realized it might just be time to go home.

As the drive home progressed, Emma began to feel the pressure surround her more and more. She stalled as much as possible, stopping in cool museums, telling Henry she didn't feel well enough to drive, they spent about two weeks on the road before they even reached Maine. And now that she was sitting here, in front of the home that she'd become so used to, Emma wasn't sure why she didn't spend more time getting here. Storybrooke wasn't safe for Henry anymore. Magic was back and it was more than clear. Emma frowns and watches people as they roamed about, dressed in clothes that you would only see in some kind of play or movie, fairies were flying about, and she's pretty sure she saw someone riding a unicorn which probably scared her the most. No, she wasn't sure she wanted Henry around here, especially after he nearly died because of magic. He just couldn't get mixed up in this life, especially since he had a choice. He could still be a normal kid, go to school, make something of himself, and Emma was determined to get him to see that.

Her head snaps up at the sound of someone tapping on her window and her eyes open as she realizes who it is.

"David? Um…I…"

"Emma…"

She could see the look in his eyes, almost as if he were proud and mournful at the same time. She wondered what she looked like in that moment. It felt like she wasn't putting up any kind of emotion, but that was nearly impossible for Emma. She had his eyes- his stupid, expressive, blue eyes.

"Yes?" She asks, raising an eyebrow.

He snaps out of it as soon as she speaks and he clears his throat, standing up straight. "Henry is inside. Sn-…Mary Margret is baking him cookies."

"Damn cookies." Emma glares in the direction of the house before leaning back against her seat and sighing. "I can wait then."

"Or you can stop being so stubborn and come inside." He crosses his arms over his chest and for a second Emma hesitates, feeling like a child who's being told what to do, before frowning.

"Woah, wait a minute- you don't tell me what to do. You might be a…a prince or whatever, you could be Jesus himself, if I don't want to go inside then I'm not going inside."

"How about I'm your father?" Emma looks away from him when he says that, trying to avoid the confrontation that she knew was coming. "Look, Emma, she's really upset okay? All she's done since you left is worry about you, worry about your relationship. You don't have to like me, that's fine, but please don't ignore her."

Emma closes her eyes and groans "Oh, this is so complicated." She shakes her head before leaning it back against the seat, still refusing to look at David…Prince James…Her father? Oh whatever. She felt guilty enough about leaving Mary Margret just like that. They'd developed this close relationship, almost like sisters, and she just doesn't want to deal with the truth of it all. How would their relationship change now? Would they still be friends? Would she try to act like her mother, make up for the terribly shitty childhood that she had? Emma had too much baggage, she couldn't deal with this. "I don't hate you, you know." She says, her eyes finally moving to look at him. "I'm confused as hell, and I don't even want to think about the whole parents thing, but I don't hate you."

He smiles, kneeling down a little to look into the car and at her, as if he was trying to remember her face or something. "Good. You don't know how glad I am to hear that, Emma." His smile grows and that proud look returns to his face. Emma doesn't know when or how, but her expression appears to have softened as well and when he speaks, she can't help but laugh. "I'm glad you weren't a boy."

"Yeah? Well I'm still one tough bitch, so I guess you kinda got the best of both worlds." They share a laugh before he looks up and stops. Emma frowns "David? What is i-"

Emma's eyes widen when a large dark cloud appears ahead of them, as if it was approaching them and preparing to attach. "Here we go." She groans as she gets out of the car quickly. "Go inside and make sure Henry is safe!" She screams out, looking up at the cloud and trying to figure out what to do.

"You're insane." Emma hears before she's picked up against her will and is taken into the house. "You take care of your kid and I'll take care of mine."

Snow walks into the room, Henry running not far behind her, and frowns "Charming? What's going on?" Henry runs right into Emma's arms and Charming looks out the window, shaking his head as he tries to move everyone away from the door.

"It's her, isn't it?...she's back." Emma looks down at Henry and kneels down, pulling him into her arms as she looks up at Charming, a concerned look on her face.

No one said a word, it wasn't necessary at all. They all knew the truth- The queen was back and she was going to seek revenge.


End file.
